Ritter thinks that journalists are supposed to do more than just ask questions of the president.

“

Quote:

I think the questions were asked. I think we pushed. I think we prodded. I think we challenged the president. I think not only those of us in the White House press corps did that, but others in the rest of the landscape of the media did that. ... The right questions were asked. I think there’s a lot of critics—and I guess we can count Scott McClellan as one—who think that, if we did not debate the president, debate the policy in our role as journalists, if we did not stand up and say, ‘This is bogus,’ and ‘You’re a liar,’ and ‘Why are you doing this?’ that we didn’t do our job. And I respectfully disagree. It’s not our role.”

That was NBC correspondent David Gregory, appearing on MSNBC’s “Hardball With Chris Matthews.” He was responding to former White House press secretary Scott McClellan’s new book, “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception.” McClellan has challenged the role of the U.S. media in investigating and reporting U.S. policy in times of conflict, especially when it comes to covering the government itself.

As a critic of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, especially when unsubstantiated allegations of weapons of mass destruction are used to sell a war, I am no stranger to the concept of questioning authority, especially in times of war. I am from the Teddy Roosevelt school of American citizenship, adhering to the principle that “to announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but it is morally treasonable to the American public.”

Long Read but worth it....

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

if the guy commits an act of treason.........like the authorization of leaking the name of a cia operative........it's ok if you're the prez?

if you outright lie in your state of the union message about saddaam hussien getting yellowcake uranium from niger after you've been told by several of your senior advisors that the info you got likely showed hussien didn't get any..............it's ok if you're the prez?

if you personally approve of the use of physical torture/waterboarding/rendition which is against the laws/constitution/geneva convention/army field manual............it's ok if you're the prez?

but if you're a democratic prez and you recieve gratuitous sex outside the bounds of marriage...............well...........i'm not very well convinced assholes like scott ritter would stand by the prez because........after all.......he IS a frickin democrat you know!

Man, if prez Obama would get off his duff and get out of Afghanistan already. Seems like he's worried about the repubs labeling him a left listening/leaning democrat. Well, the counter to that would be heading the words of Mr. Ritter.

McChrystal operates under the illusion that American military power can provide a shield from behind which Afghanistan can remake itself into a viable modern society. He has deluded himself and others into believing that the people of Afghanistan want to be part of such a grand social experiment, and furthermore that they will tolerate the United States being in charge. The reality of Afghan history, culture and society argue otherwise. The Taliban, once a defeated entity in the months following the initial American military incursion into Afghanistan, are resurgent and growing stronger every day. The principle source of the Taliban’s popularity is the resentment of the Afghan people toward the American occupation and the corrupt proxy government of Hamid Karzai. There is nothing an additional 40,000 American troops will be able to do to change that basic equation. The Soviets tried and failed. They deployed 110,000 troops, operating on less restrictive lines of communication and logistical supply than the United States. They built an Afghan army of some 45,000 troops. They operated without the constraints of American rules of engagement. They slaughtered around a million Afghans. And they lost, for the simple reason that the people of Afghanistan did not want them, or their Afghan proxies.

Mr. Ritter was interviewed by KGO's new Sat/Sun graveyard host, Pat Thurston, and he indicated, like others have, that McChrystal won't say anything different than any other military leader in that position. It's up to the prez to break that cycle.

Very true...and I'm hoping Obama will find his stride before it's too late and he becomes a one-term president with very little to show as far as "change" goes. I want him to show as much strength in dealing with the things that are wrong with our country as he did on the campaign trail. I've not seen that yet. He's been far too nice to those who would love to see him ousted, one way or another. One of the things Obama could do to make his popularity soar would be to get out of Afghanistan....completely and totally OUT. Karzai is corrupt and should be replaced, although I have no idea how that would be done since the election has now been called for him and recognized by the Obama admin. I don't think Hillary Clinton is being used adequately, either. She's got a lot of abilities and authority as the Secretary of State to help broker a peace if she's allowed to do it.

But the Afghan people have to WANT change...and then demand it and make it happen.

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman